creating space for beauty & simplicity

Archives for February 2017

A bookshelf is the ideal venue for a vignette . Each shelf acts as a little stage for props to be set up and designed on creating that perfect scene. It’s almost as if a little performance is about to begin at any moment!

This built-in lives in my kitchen and holds a variety of things, many of which get used daily. When creating your own vignettes I urge you not to shy away from things that get utilized on a regular basis. Little clusters or groupings of objects that are both beautiful and useful can make a room feel inviting and give purpose. Just grab what you need and after you are finished back into the vignette it goes!

The top shelf holds a basket of linen napkins that get used on special occasions. On each side of the basket sit an antique copper candlestick that gets used on my dining room table when we are seating a larger group and the leaf needs to be put in. A Tulip Poplar branch found on a hike sits on top of the basket.

The second shelf holds an array of well loved cookbooks. My Joy of Cooking, gifted to me by Chris on our first Christmas together as a married couple, is so ell loved it is held together by a rubber band. It’s my go to for baking. An antique English Adams farmer mug holding a cluster of wood handled steak knives acts as a book end. A white scalloped pedestal bowl holds apples. Leaning up against the books is an antique hay barn pulley and a little watercolor I painted.

On the third shelf sit more cook books, pottery and utensils. A ceramic serving tray acts as a backdrop.

The fourth shelf on the bottom holds even more cookbooks, a Tiviola radio, and a pottery pitcher and chicken tile. On top of the radio sits a hand carved grouping of mushrooms made by a woodcarver friend. A wooden hand painted, floral serving tray leans behind.

As I have mentioned before vignettes are not meant to be permanent. These shelves are in constant flux. As the seasons change along with my mood so do the vignettes that live here.

I’d love to hear from you my friends. Let me know if you are enjoying this series and what other types of series you might like to see!

I know I wrote about the peacock hat here a few weeks ago but I am back with more. I just love this pattern!

I made the black and white one for my sister for her birthday and the purple and grey one for my mom this past weekend while we were away. We have similar styles so it was fun to create each one with it’s own individual personality making each one a bit different so we wouldn’t be too matchy-matchy.

Now we are all strutting around proud as peacocks with our new (not so matchy) hats.

Oh what a glorious, fun-filled weekend we had! The weather was beautiful allowing for the perfect mix of outdoor time spent sledding, hiking and snowshoeing along with indoor time spent cooking, baking, reading, knitting and playing games. The whole weekend was the perfect way to celebrate Hannah’s 15th birthday.

We came home to 60 degree temps! Spring is definitely in the air. The snowdrops are up and our hens are laying again now that the days are getting longer.

On another note just a reminder that you can follow along more with S & E on my Instagram account where I share daily. I had fun posting over the weekend and even started sharing little videos on my story:) You can click on my Instagram account (the little camera icon) on the sidebar to the left.

We are headed out of the town tomorrow morning for the long holiday weekend to our beloved lake. Winter time there is quite different than summer but just as lovely. Hannah turns 15 on Saturday and there couldn’t be a more perfect place to celebrate her birthday.

I’ve got my warm winter essentials packed up and ready to go along with the ingredients for Hannah’s birthday dinner request- lasagna (made with homemade noodles by Norah with the pasta maker she got for Christmas) and a carrot cake.

If internet service is available I will be posting daily photos throughout the weekend. See you soon!

I am a true believer in keeping dining tables clean and clear of clutter and debris. Being able to sit down to do work, or set the table to eat a meal is so much nicer when there aren’t piles of stuff to move out of the way.

A vignette in the center of the table sets the tone of a sacred space. In places where you visit often, especially where you might work or eat meals, they create a sense of peace and calm.

This grouping sits upon a wooden lazy Susan. We like to spin it around to pass condiments, herbs and spices. A white dish with an antique vanity plateau mirror sits upon the lazy Susan to dress things up a bit. I love how the mirror reflects the candle light in the evenings.

I always have a fresh bouquet of flowers on the table. At this time of year I use mostly store bought but as the seasons change, posies made from my own garden begin to appear. This one is made up of store bought Anemones, Silver Bell Euculyptus pods (left over from Christmas decor) and some foraged Sensitive Fern seed heads.

The antique thrifted pewter pitcher sits upon a slice of wood to give height and some rustic flare.

Sitting atop another slice of wood lives a set of little pewter dishes holding a crystal salt cellar. A second cellar holds hot pepper flakes.

A small glass vase holds a votive candle. Lighting candles makes the ritual of meal time that more special.

This week’s vignette is one that lives inside one of my built-in bookcases. Since I am a bit of a vignette-aholic every shelf in the bookcase contains a vignette but I’ll focus on this little top nook for now.

Like I mentioned before a vignette can tell a story. This particular one tells a story of our love of nature with several bits of the natural world found on walks and hikes , antique gardening and nature books, pottery and photographs.

I have been collecting antique gardening books since back when I was in college studying horticulture. I loved to hunt through used books stores and library sales for both myself and my mom who has an impressive collection herself. The pictures and drawings are so beautiful and I am always drawn to a pretty cover.

A slice of black walnut adds texture against the books and can be used as a coaster.

The daffodil pottery bowl holds a wren’s nest that sits upon a group of foraged pine cones. I found that little nest walking Harry one morning. It was just sitting on the sidewalk. It has bits of sweater lint woven throughout.

One of my favorite photographs of Hannah and Norah from a past camping trip leans behind the bowl.

A little handmade pottery vase holding an assortment of found feathers (including some from our own hens) sits next to a little clay bear made by Hannah.

And an old black and white photograph of Pop when he was sixteen watches over the little scene.

After much hinting around about how I longed for a bird feeder to live outside our dining room window, Norah made me this beautiful one in wood shop class. We installed it in the fall, used a millet seed mix and sat back and watched. Weeks went by but no birds to be found. I began to get impatient, as I sometimes do, and my family would roll their eyes as I would look out the window each day asking “Birdies where are you?” I did some research and decided to switch to black oil sunflower seed. Later that day as I was washing dishes I squealed out loud with delight as I spotted a Tufted Titmouse from the kitchen window. I even called Chris at work to tell him. After that our feeder has seen a flurry of daily activity.

I love the design which has proved to be quite a hit with an amazing array of birds and it’s squirrel proof too! Norah made a beautiful Yew knob that sits atop the roof which lifts up to pour in seed. It has a nice wide lip for bigger birds to perch on while the smaller birds feed inside under the protective roof. I have sometimes seen up to 5 different types of birds feeding at once. The base seems to be too wide for the squirrels to jump from the pole up to the feeder. I had quite a chuckle one day as I watched one do back flips over and over trying to get up. I have yet to see another one try. I think Earl must of told them not to waste their time. I told Norah she should patent her design.

I never dreamed of how much joy this little feeder would bring me. I love how much life it brings to the side of our house. The other day as I was coming home from my morning walk I watched from across the street at a variety of birds on the feeder, on the branches of nearby shrubs, in the flowering cherry tree above and even up in my window boxes. There was a Downy Woodpecker pecking at the ivy vine growing up our house and squirrels and mourning doves feeding on the ground below the feeder. I am having to fill the feeder at least once a day for all of our new little friends! It will be fun to see if we have some volunteer sunflowers come up in the garden from all of the seed.